


Fan Art Illustration: Vorkosigan House (Petya Verse)

by Lanna Michaels (lannamichaels)



Series: Petya 'verse - All Petya Vorkosigan Fics [31]
Category: Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Genre: Alternate Universe, Embedded Images, Fan Art, Illustration, Visio, blueprints
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-05
Updated: 2011-06-05
Packaged: 2017-10-20 04:32:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 3,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/208770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lannamichaels/pseuds/Lanna%20Michaels
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vorkosigan House blueprints. Specifically for Petya verse, but it does not overtly contradict canon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Vorkosigan House: General Notes

**Author's Note:**

> This will probably be revised as I find other things I missed when doing canon rereads for this.
> 
> Please point out my mistakes. :)

**General Disclaimers/Miscellany** :  


  * General disclaimers: Not to scale. Notes for story purposes (i.e., diverges from canon/include fic stuff). Not meant to be comprehensive. I am not an architect. Walls are for drawing purposes, please assume there are more walls than are shown, and probably a great deal more corridors, staircases, and ways of getting around. On a similar note, doors are often not included in the walls that are included, just for the sake of space/etc.  

  

  * If I messed something up or forgot something, please let me know. :)  

  

  * My screen resolution is 1280x1024, so this is probably optimized for/looks best in that resolution.  

  



**General Miscellany About The House**   


  * Age of the house: roughly 200 years as of ACC; built by Miles's great-great-great grandfather, the seventh Count (ACC 1)  
[Counting note: Miles himself is the 11th Count. The countship therefore skipped a generation somewhere; might explain loss of Selig as name for an heir along the way, unless, of course, Aral's older brother was the missing Selig.]  
[Skipped a generation and not skipped to a different line or had some other break because Aral bemoans the end of direct descent (MD 12)]  
[There is a canon contradiction on the age of the House. One age is said by Mark and one by Miles; I am using the one from Miles, under the assumption that he is a more reliable source for various Vor history things.]  

  

  * Built a generation after Vorrutyer House (ACC 7). It is built out of "great gray stone blocks, in two main wings plus some extra odd architectural bits" (Memory 4). "Odd architectural bits" are Sir Not Appearing, mostly for the sake of drawing purposes. If something looks a little cramped, *handwave*, it's in an odd architectural bit.  

  

  * Wings: Eastern (M 4), North (ACC 3) - is "unoccupied now above the ground floor" as of then except for Roic's room; presumably is occupied below it.  

  

  * The shape of the house is (as far as I know/remember) non-canonical. I did it this way because I needed to have 2 wings at a right angle, and a million rooms overlooking a garden that is only described, very helpfully, as being in the "back".  

  

  * Stables and armory are (also as far as I know/remember) non-canonical. I am presuming their existence.  

  

  * The House has 8 floors: sub-basement, basement, ground/1st floor, 2nd floor, 3rd floor, 4th floor, attic, roof (Barrayar 6). The grand staircase goes from floors 1 to 4 (argh, I lost the cite on this, working to find it). There is a lift tube near the back of the house (WA 1, ACC 12), and there is a back hallway going to it (ACC 14), it is also accessible through "archway leading straight back under the curved stairway" (MD 12), which I am basically ignoring because of difficulties drawing that. It is possibly built where Cordelia suggested in B6: "in the back hallway next to the plumbing stack".  

  

  * _Not shown:_ Outside of the house/various fortifications. What there is:
    * "half-circular drive that serviced the front portico, braking past the spiked iron fence and the Earth-imported shrubbery" (B1). 
  

    * "Vorkosigan House sat in the center, set off from the street by a narrow green strip of lawn and garden in the loop of the semicircular drive. A stone wall topped with black wrought-iron spikes surrounded it all. The four stories of great gray stone blocks, in two main wings plus some extra odd architectural bits, rose in a vast archaic mass...A force screen just inside the wall provided the real protection... A concrete kiosk beside the gate housed the gate guards". (Mem 4). 
  

    * "The somber stone of the mansion rose before them, four stories high in two major wings. What seemed dozens of windows frowned down. The short semicircle of drive curled around a brilliantly healthy patch of green grass and under a portico, which sheltered carved double doors flanked by tall narrow windows." (ACC 1)
  

  



 

 **References:**   


  

  1. Shards chapter 15  

  

  2. Barrayar (B) chapters 1, 4, 6  

  

  3. Warrior's Apprentice (WA) chapters 2-3  

  

  4. Mirror Dance (MD) chapters 11-14; 16-18; 32;  

  

  5. Memory (M) chapters 4; 7; 15; 19; 21; 27  

  

  6. A Civil Campaign (ACC) chapters 1; 3-4; 7; 14; 17;  

  

  7. Winterfair Gifts (WG)  

  

  8. Cryoburn (C) chapter 13  

  

  9. Diplomatic Immunity (DI) Epilogue  

  




	2. First Floor

* * *

**In the image:**

First Floor of Vorkosigan House.

Vorkosigan House is in two wings (North and East), which meet at a right angle in a shape of the letter L; North goes up and East goes to the right. To the left of the House is the main entrance with the driveway (not shown). In the space left from the "L" shape is a back garden and where stables used to be. There is also a legend for the shapes used.

The North Wing contains: Library (entire end of the wing), First parlor (a chamber off of the library, on the side towards the street), Breakfast room/dining nook (on the side of the wing that goes towards the back garden), Second receiving room (on the side of the wing that goes towards the street). There are many staircases.

On the "bend" of the L are guard posts (non-canonical), padded bench, main spiral staircase (on the side of the house that is next to the back garden, is diagonally across from the front door), front door and palm scanner.

The East Wing contains: Ballroom and state dining room (both on top, on the side with the back garden), and miscellaneous dining rooms and parlors (bottom, on the side that isn't the back garden). There is a lift tube (elevator) at the end of the East wing. The back driveway/service entrance is also at the end of the East wing. There are many staircases.

* * *

 **Canon notes for this floor:**   


  

  * Entry chamber is black-and-white paved foyer (MD 17). in tessellated pattern (M 4). There is a padded bench. (M 21).  

  

  * to the left, a short arched hallway and a set of doors that leads to the First Parlor, which is an antechamber to the Library.  

  

  * Either the library or the antechamber runs from the front of the house to the back (text is ambiguous, but probably refers to the library. MD 12) OTOH, the library is "the long room at the end of one wing of the oldest part of the house" (MD 14) and "running the length of the end of the wing" (ACC1). There are "glass doors at the end of the library" that go to the back garden (ACC 1; MD 14).  

  

  * The First Parlor or Library has a marble floor (slightly unclear, probably the library, but v. likely they have the same flooring.) (MD 16). Mirror in first parlor was a part of Piotr's mother's dowry (MD 32) (I am assuming antechamber = first parlor, since it seems to on first mention in MD).  

  

  * Second Receiving Room is big room on the east side (M 15). (My presumption here is East Wing, not east side of East Wing, mostly for placement purposes, but also because it is one place that is *not* described as overlooking the back garden. So, in that interest, It Does Not Overlook The Damn Back Garden).  

  

  * Main dining hall, seats 96. "is main state dining room" (WG), so there are possibly other state dining rooms.  

  

  * There is some sort of dining-nook/breakfast parlor that looks into the back garden (B7, MD 18).  

  




	3. Second Floor

* * *

**In the image:**

Second Floor of Vorkosigan House.

Vorkosigan House is in two wings (North and East), which meet at a right angle in a shape of the letter L; North goes up and East goes to the right. To the left of the House is the main entrance with the driveway (not shown). In the space left from the "L" shape is a back garden and where stables used to be. There is also a legend for the shapes used.

The North Wing contains: Petya's nursery (non-canonical), which is also Helen and Aral's nursery, and the nursery for the kids after them. It is on the end of the North Wing, spanning it from one side to another. On the side of the wing overlooking the garden is a guest suite, which later becomes Nikki's. The nursery is meant to be smaller than the guest suite; however, it is larger on it in the image due to various and sundry. There are many unlabelled spaces and many staircases.

On the "bend" of the L are padded benches against the walls that are not overlooking the back garden (non-canonical) and the main spiral staircase (on the side of the house that is next to the back garden, is diagonally across from the padded benches).

The East Wing contains: Yellow parlor and Piotr's/Miles's/Miles and Ekaterin's suite (both on top, on the side with the back garden). There is a lift tube (elevator) at the end of the East wing. The back driveway/service entrance is also at the end of the East wing (shown for reference). There are many unlabelled spaces and many staircases.

 

* * *

 **Canon notes for this floor:**   


  

  * Yellow parlor is "Down one floor, one corridor south, third door on the right" from the second son's room on 3rd floor. (MD 12)  

  

  * Piotr's chambers. Overlooks back garden (WA 2) Is in East Wing (ACC 3) has best view of the back garden (M 19) Imperial-grade guest suite: bedroom, private bath, sitting room, and study (M 19)  

  

  * guest room around the corridor's corner from Piotr/Miles's suite, overlooks the back garden (WG) from context in M 27, this might be in the North Wing due to being around the corner.  

  

  * Nursery for Helen and Aral is down a hallway from Miles and Ekaterin's suite on the second floor (DI Epilogue). Like everything else, it overlooks the back garden. It is described as small, but it is large enough to hold Lots of People and two uterine replicators, so small is probably a relative term (theory: it's just one room, instead of the multi-room suite apartments that Miles/Ekaterin and Aral/Cordelia live in, so that makes it "small").  

  




	4. Third Floor

* * *

**In the image:**

Third Floor of Vorkosigan House.

Vorkosigan House is in two wings (North and East), which meet at a right angle in a shape of the letter L; North goes up and East goes to the right. To the left of the House is the main entrance with the driveway (not shown). In the space left from the "L" shape is a back garden and where stables used to be. There is also a legend for the shapes used.

The North Wing contains: Ekaterin's office (at the end of the North Wing, in the corner that is on the side of the main entrance and looks towards the side street. This is the corner opposite the corner that would look into the space of the L and see the back garden.) Miles's childhood room is also in this area, but it is on the side of the wing that overlooks the back garden. Further down the wing, still on the side that overlooks the back garden, is Mark's second son's room. There are many unlabelled spaces and many staircases.

On the "bend" of the L are padded benches against the walls that are not overlooking the back garden (non-canonical) and the main spiral staircase (on the side of the house that is next to the back garden, is diagonally across from the padded benches).

The East Wing contains: Aral's first son's room, which was his during his military career, and Aral and Cordelia's suite that takes up the same space as Piotr's on the second floor (both on top, on the side with the back garden). There is a lift tube (elevator) at the end of the East wing. The back driveway/service entrance is also at the end of the East wing (shown for reference). There are many unlabelled spaces and many staircases.

 

* * *

 **Canon notes for this floor:**   


  

  * Aral's chamber during military career, overlooks back garden. (Shards 15) (presumed to be 3rd floor?)  

  

  * Ekaterin's "third-floor office, the one on the north side overlooking her Barrayaran garden through the Earth-import treetops" (C13)  

  

  * Mark's "second son's room"; Aral's before the war. Was a guest room. Is sunny. (MD 12) Catches morning light. (MD 13) Maybe in the North Wing?  

  

  * Miles's childhood room in the "side wing" overlooks the back garden (M 4) From context in ACC 1, ACC 3 and M 27, is in the north wing. Mark's room is nearby, so presumable that's in the north wing, too.  

  

  * Aral & Cordelia's suite.  

  

  * Cordelia's study is just off the bedroom. It is up a step and through an archway from the bedroom. Her study overlooks the back garden (MD 18)  

  




	5. Fourth Floor

* * *

**In the image:**

Fourth Floor of Vorkosigan House.

Vorkosigan House is in two wings (North and East), which meet at a right angle in a shape of the letter L; North goes up and East goes to the right. To the left of the House is the main entrance with the driveway (not shown). In the space left from the "L" shape is a back garden and where stables used to be. There is also a legend for the shapes used.

The North Wing contains: Petya's suite (non-canonical) at the far end, taking up the end of the wing, spanning the entire width of it. Further down, on the side of the wing that overlooks the street (opposite the side that overlooks the back garden) are rooms for Sergeant Bothari, Armsman Roic, and a little further down and closer to where the front door is, Elena Bothari. There are many unlabelled spaces and many staircases.

On the "bend" of the L are padded benches against the walls that are not overlooking the back garden (non-canonical) and the main spiral staircase (on the side of the house that is next to the back garden, is diagonally across from the padded benches).

The East Wing contains: the room where Miles gets drunk (bottom, on the side that isn't the back garden). There is an empty, unlabelled suite that takes up the same shape and area as Piotr's (second floor) and Aral and Cordelia's (third floor). There is a lift tube (elevator) at the end of the East wing. The back driveway/service entrance is also at the end of the East wing (shown for reference). There are many unlabelled spaces and many staircases.

 

* * *

 **Canon notes for this floor:**   


  

  * Small room, formerly a servant's room, where Miles gets drunk (MD 7).  

  

  * probably Elena's room, because Miles takes lift tube to the "top floor" (probably meant to be 4th floor) to go visit Elena and then she looks down "four floors below her window" to see people arriving (WA 3), so she has some vantage point over the entrance/porte-cochere. Elena's room had one window, which looks to the street. Her room is bigger than her father's room. (WA 3).  

  

  * Roic's room in the North Wing (ACC 3).  

  

  * Presumably Bothari's as well (WA 3, Memory 4, where it is described as a "tiny chamber" and Miles, who is pacing, comes to it after Elena's, so presumably on the same floor, although not necessarily so, but *handwave*). Probably the armsmen's rooms are in a grouping.  

  




	6. Attic

* * *

**In the image:**

Attic of Vorkosigan House.

Vorkosigan House is in two wings (North and East), which meet at a right angle in a shape of the letter L; North goes up and East goes to the right. To the left of the House is the main entrance with the driveway (not shown). In the space left from the "L" shape is a back garden and where stables used to be. There is also a legend for the shapes used.

The North Wing contains: No interior walls, with a label that this is the north wing attic and there is a lot of stuff. There are many staircases. The space is otherwise empty.

On the "bend" of the L is a regular staircase taking up the space that the main spiral staircase takes up on the main floors (on the side of the house that is next to the back garden).

The East Wing contains: many unlabelled spaces and many staircases. The spaces create a hallway from the lift tube to the north wing attic. There is a lift tube (elevator) at the end of the East wing. The back driveway/service entrance is also at the end of the East wing (shown for reference).

 

* * *

 **Canon notes for this floor:**   


  

  * North Wing attic. "They exited the tube at the fifth level, a floor she hadn't penetrated on that first, memorable tour. She followed him down an uncarpeted hallway and through a pair of double doors into an enormous low-ceilinged room that extended from one side of the wing to the other. Roof beams hand-sawn from great trees crossed it overhead, with yellowing plaster between. Utilitarian lighting fixtures hung from them along a pair of center aisles created by the high-piled stowage." (ACC 17)  

  




	7. Roof

* * *

**In the image:**

Roof of Vorkosigan House.

Vorkosigan House is in two wings (North and East), which meet at a right angle in a shape of the letter L; North goes up and East goes to the right. To the left of the House is the main entrance with the driveway (not shown). In the space left from the "L" shape is a back garden and where stables used to be. There is also a legend for the shapes used.

There are railings on the exterior walls. There is a label saying guard stations and various fortifications, along with an icon of a security camera. There are many staircases. There is a lift tube (elevator) at the end of the East wing. The back driveway/service entrance is also at the end of the East wing (shown for reference). The space is otherwise empty.

 

* * *

 **Canon notes for this floor:**   


  

  * Guard duty station (as of Regency, at least) (Barrayar 4)  

  




	8. Basement

* * *

**In the image:**

Basement of Vorkosigan House.

Vorkosigan House is in two wings (North and East), which meet at a right angle in a shape of the letter L; North goes up and East goes to the right. To the left of the House is the main entrance with the driveway (not shown). In the space left from the "L" shape is a back garden and where stables used to be. There is also a legend for the shapes used.

The North Wing contains: Laundry rooms and storage spaces, each taking up a lot of space. On the garden-side of the wing is Enrique's lab. There are many unlabelled spaces and many staircases.

On the "bend" of the L is a place for medical care (non-canonical) and a regular staircase taking up the space that the main spiral staircase takes up on the main floors (on the side of the house that is next to the back garden).

The East Wing contains: Laundry rooms on both the garden-side and the non-garden-side. The rest of the wing contains the kitchen, which has a cubicle for the cook tucked in by the garden-side, against the wall to the laundry room next door. This placement is arbitrary; it's there because it fit there. There is a lift tube (elevator) at the end of the East wing. The back driveway/service entrance is also at the end of the East wing. There are many staircases.

 

* * *

 **Canon notes for this floor:**   


  

  * Kitchen (MD 13)  

  

  * Various laundry rooms (ACC 4)  

  

  * there are high windows looking to the outside (ACC 4).  

  

  * The cook has a cubicle off of the kitchen which has a comconsole (M4)  

  

  * Enrique's laboratory in laundry room in "half-basement" of the north wing. (Presumably same level as Kitchen) (ACC 3)  

  




	9. Sub-Basement

* * *

**In the image:**

Sub-Basement of Vorkosigan House.

Vorkosigan House is in two wings (North and East), which meet at a right angle in a shape of the letter L; North goes up and East goes to the right. To the left of the House is the main entrance with the driveway (not shown). In the space left from the "L" shape is a back garden and where stables used to be. There is also a legend for the shapes used.

There are various evacuation route arrows shown at various places, near staircases and entry points. Not meant to be comprehensive, and not entirely meant to be exact. These are just to illustrate that there are multiple evacuation routes from the sub-basement.

The North Wing contains: Wine cellar (canonical, but location not clear in canon) taking up a lot of room at the end of the wing. Armory (non-canonical) fitting in against the wine cellar and taking up a lot of room. Vault (non-canonical) against the armory. Placements here are to maximize the chance that taking a North Wing staircase at random would get you near what you're looking for (wine, weapons, valuables), with the minimum amount of problems. All placements are non-canonical. There are many staircases.

On the "bend" of the L is the documents room (again, canonical room, unclear location in canon), which were formerly a dungeon (non-canonical, but, c'mon, they totally had one.) There is a regular staircase taking up the space that the main spiral staircase takes up on the main floors (on the side of the house that is next to the back garden).

The East Wing contains: the garage, leading out to the back driveway. There is a lift tube (elevator) at the end of the East wing. The back driveway/service entrance is also at the end of the East wing. There are many staircases.

 

* * *

 **Canon notes for this floor:**   


  

  * garage occupies the whole eastern wing of the sub-basement (M 4)  

  

  * wine cellar (presumably). M4 says about the wine cellar: "There was an impressive amount of wine and spirits left to age undisturbed in the climate-controlled cellar"; on the other hand, Miles was just in the kitchen before going to the wine cellar to get wine. Only cite I found for its location, will keep looking.  

  

  * Documents room (ACC 14) (presumably, location not stated.)  

  




End file.
